Lost in the Wilderness
The red drops of wine splashed around the cup and upon the table. The barmaid looked down on Sevgi with a smile; she was young, too young to understand his world but he could not help but wonder. "Many thanks my dear." Sevgi smiled a crooked grin, "The next round, do be a sweetling and bring us both a bottle." His one drink had already turned to four but the boy happily kept pace with him. The barmaid flushed and smiled, "As you wish, Master Belain." She was coy and sweet with her words and melted Sevgi like spring's heat melts the last snow of winter. He leaned over the side of his chair and stared at her backside as she walked to service the other tavern goers. "Ruukina's spirit lives in that girl, I tell ya boy." He turned back to the table, "Cause all sorts of c''haos'', iffin' you catch my meaning." The boy looked on and laughed at the old man's thoughts. Sevgi snickered and held his glass high: "May the winds of Fortune guide us to a glorious future..." The boy looked on puzzled. Sevgi motioned to him to do the same, "Raise your drink boy! It is a toast!." The boy picked up his cup. "Alright now after I say 'May the winds of Fortune... dada dada da...', then you say 'And not to an untimely end.' You understand?" The boy nodded and Sevgi began: "May the winds of Fortune guide us to a glorious future..." The cups clacked together and the boy followed, "And not to an untimely end." They threw there drinks back with vigor and slammed the cups down to the table. --- The boy awoke with a startle as Sevgi tugged on his robes. He thrashed and flailed about for a few moments before the world came back into focus. He saw Sevgi in front of him. He had traded his clothes for a dress that was large fitting on him with many loose straps and belts, it exposed his aged shoulders and chest and he held his arms across his chest to keep the dress from falling. The boy's anger vanished and he began to laugh hysterically. "Why you little shit." Sevgi approached the boy and smacked him upside the head. "You are wearing a dress too, ya' blasted fool." The boy looked upon his own robes to find he was indeed wearing a dress. In anger and confusion he grabbed Sevgi by the neck, "What happened to my clothes?!" He thrashed the poor man about. Sevgi struggled for a moment before taking a strong stance, "I do not...KNOW!" With the 'KNOW' came a swift knee to the boy's gemstones and he fell to the ground. His whole body reeled as the hangover, the ball-shot and all his previous wounds shouted in a chorus of agony. "An' stop trying to kill me for a moment so I can find our where we are." Sevgi looked about, his head boiling with the fire of too much drink. The forest was heavily overgrown yet this area had been matted down and branches had been broken and stacked to create walls. Upon further inspection Sevgi found numerous wine jugs and assorted wrapping within the 'walls' and littering the matted area. He pulled a few branches away from a weak spot and walked out through a clearing in the shrubs and brush, all-the-while walking through yesterday's event in his mind. The boy staggered to his feet and followed after him. They emerged in a thick bush of woods but just beyond they could see a hill within a field. It was a quick walk away so Sevgi hiked up his dress and proceeded towards the hill, "Come on...ah...boy, I can get a better look from up there." The boy staggered up behind him, hurt, broken and insulted. "Right behind you Old Man." The boy's head pounded harder, "And I told you to stop calling me boy, I have a name." Sevgi continued walking ahead but looked back with genuine confusion, "Did ya now? My apologies boy ''but I seem to have drank that memory away, along with how you managed to get us lost in the woods." He said coarsely, wishing only for a good toke on the ole pipe. "Pray tell, what ''do they call you beyond the Mountains? 'Where the laws of society hold no bounds; where savages lay with sheep and dragon spawn rip children from their beds.'?" The boy was fueled with rage but his body could not bear anymore action. He breathed deeply a few times and found a surprising calm settle over him as he thought of his homeland. "My name is N-" He stuttered,"...Garrah, and we are not beyond the Mountain, so you have no right to even speak my full name." The boy lied as he could no longer bear to say the name himself. Sevgi continued walking ahead as they passed the edge of the woods and into the clearing. "N'Garrah huh?" Sevgi laughed loud as he turned to walk backwards. He now faced the boy with a smug look of suspicion. "Ya know, it don' take a smart man to know that you are a terrible liar." The boy was stricken with shock has he searched his mind for memories of the prior night. Sevgi noted his shock. "That's right, Nex, son of some ass and some cunt I never heard of, who lives under a mountain and eats fruit." Sevgi turned back around right as they reached the bottom of the hill. "I knew I would get ya' to spill; you got mighty chatty once ya had a good couple drinks." He laughed as he proceeded up the hill. Nex waited, in fear, at the bottom of the hill. Sevgi sensed his trepidation and spoke again, "Still don' know how you came to be beaten almost to death on my doorstep." He stopped and looked down to Nex again. "So whatever is on your mind, you need not worry..." He saw the fear in Nex's eyes, he had seen it before in so many men. "Come, Nex, it is not my Judgement you need fear." He motioned up the hill, "Now let's get back so we can have a proper drink. One taken by the fire with The Seven's word in hand." Nex breathed deep then proceeded up the hill. The two began walking side by side and felt the mood lighten as the Sun peaked out from behind the clouds. By the time they reached the top of the hill both men felt much better, though both looked no better than common dregs. Atop the hill Sevgi got a good look of the area and managed to place their location. They were not far from Sevi's home but he was shocked at how far they had traveled from the village where they drank. The road could be seen just over the field beyond a small line of shrubs and bushes. "Well?" Nex said, impatient to get out of his dress. "It's not far boy." Sevgi said hiking up his dress for the journey, "We are just a quick walk down the road....let's just do it with an accelerated pace." --- The two men made it to the road with only minimal effort (though Sevgi lost a belt to his dress, tangled in a bush beside the road). As they walked the Sun continued to shine bright and only a few scattered clouds remained in the sky. "Enjoy these last nice days," Sevgi said looking around, "Weather lookin' to turn soon. Though consider yourself lucky; you don' know cold till you've spend a winter in Oden." He laughed a desperate laugh to mask a real pain brought to life by the memory of his one time home. "Oden?" Nex questioned. "They teach you nothing out in the desert?" Sevgi scolded, "Oden? The largest nation of Lancerus?" Nex stared on blankly. "Desert?" "Ah Seven Fucks boy!" He puffed angrily remembering Nex was not from Lancerus. "I've a book you can look over when we return. Give you some sense of the world you be in now." Nex could not get word in now as Sevgi, instead of allowing Nex to read the book, began an extensive history into Oden and it's long, cold winters. However abrasive Sevgi was, his knowledge of the lands was extensive, a feature Nex enjoyed as he could not read the words from the books himself. The men were eyed carefully by an old woman working in her field. Her dogs took notice as well and began barking at the passers-by. She squinted her old eyes to view the men better and gawked when she saw it was Sevgi. "Ah good morning Madam Barbellow!" Sevgi hollered over the hounds, "Is it not a fine day to work the soil so graciously blessed by Kalyar?" The woman returned no greeting, nor commented on the grace of the God's blessing, she simply looked on in amazement at the two men clothed as ladies. Her gaze followed them open mouthed their entire journey passed her farm. The dogs chased after them down the fence line until Nex grew impatient and barked back. He jumped on the fence and leaned over, growling and snarling at the hounds who turned tail and ran back to their master. Nex hopped back down from the fence and continued walking next to Sevgi who shot him a horrified look that turned to satisfaction. Nex smiled as the two men hiked up their dresses and rounded the bend for home. Sevgi began another tale of the woods. "You see that crop of bushes over there? I met a lass, oh I tell ya boy, I met a lass. Her arse sizzled like strips of bacon..." But Nex could not hear him. He gazed down the path as a cold wind blew and the hairs on his body stood on end. Please no....leave me be.... He thought to himself. "Nex..Nex..." ''A harsh whisper finally made it's way back into his ears. ''"Yoooouuuu caaaaannooooot essssscaaaape meeeeee Neeeeeex..." The walk home was cold and Nex could not recall a word Sevgi had spoken once they arrived. Previous Chapter A Trip to Town Next Chapter Sevgi's House of Contemplation: Who Are You?